A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...
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in Angra Pequeña in order to assure government protection and gain investment for his<br />
project. 21 Similarly, other companies and the DOAG joined together frequently in order<br />
to force government to acquiesce to their desires for commercial expansion. Companies<br />
also sometimes exploited the machinery of law to acquire more ownership rights to<br />
territory. For example, the DKG pushed its claims through the <strong>German</strong> colonial court<br />
system in order to establish its entitlement to mineral-rich land. 22 Likewise, nearly all of<br />
the colonial companies struggled to wrest more concessionary territory from the colonial<br />
administration. One large commercial enterprise was even prosecuted by the government<br />
for land speculation and the manipulation of government land grants. 23 The prosecution<br />
illustrates how allegations of monopoly capitalism’s absolutely determining influence<br />
over <strong>German</strong> colonialism are mistaken.<br />
The colonial enterprises were for the most part able to avoid any significant<br />
restrictions upon their practice by the Reich. The numerous cases of corruption cited by<br />
the Zentrum deputy Mathias Erzberger during the colonial scandals of 1905-1910, such<br />
as those of the Cameroon railroad, the Tippelskirch firm, the Woermann’s shipping line<br />
and the land grants of the DKG, reveal how companies would exploit various illicit<br />
means to guarantee control over the colonial market. 24 Other strains, like the bankrupting<br />
of Southwest African colonial finances because of the massive 600 million mark cost of<br />
the Herero war, while the DKG, whose confiscation of Herero land was largely<br />
responsible for the revolt, prospered, further demonstrate the autonomy of colonial<br />
business. 25 In all of these cases, the railroad, Woermann’s, the DKG and Tippelskirch<br />
firms received only cursory reprimands for their abusive business practice. The<br />
independence from government interference reveals how capital deterritorialized itself in<br />
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